Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield was a pioneer American racing driver. His name was "synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". He was the winner of the inaugural AAA National Championship in 1905.
Raffaele "Ralph" DePalma was an American racing driver who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,000 races. DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships and is credited with winning 25 American Championship car races. He won the Canadian national championship in 1929. DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years. He is inducted in numerous halls of fame. He competed on boards and dirt road courses and ovals.
Anita King was an American stunt driver, actress, and thoroughbred racehorse owner. In 1915, she became the first woman to drive a car unaccompanied across the United States, with her 49-day journey from Hollywood to New York City.
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life is a 1913 silent comedy short, directed and produced by Mack Sennett. It stars Sennett, Mabel Normand, Ford Sterling, The Keystone Cops and Barney Oldfield as himself, in his film debut. It was distributed by the Keystone Film Company, and released in the United States on June 3, 1913. The film is preserved and was released as part of a DVD box set, titled Slapstick Encyclopedia, and is frequently featured in silent film festivals.
Disbarred is a 1939 American crime film about a crooked lawyer starring Gail Patrick and Robert Preston. The supporting cast includes Otto Kruger, Virginia Vale and Sidney Toler. The movie was directed by film noir specialist Robert Florey.
The Speed Kings is a 1913 American short comedy film starring Mabel Normand and featuring Fatty Arbuckle in an early role. The film is set at a race track and features footage of actual races. The story has Mabel's papa trying to prevent her growing infatuation with real life racing driver Teddy Tetzlaff.
Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway. The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctioned by AAA/USAC, IMCA, and NASCAR. It was a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt track which was located adjacent to Lakewood Fairgrounds. Lakewood Speedway was considered the "Indianapolis of the South" as it was located in the largest city in the Southern United States and it held an annual race of the Indy cars.
Ernest "Ernie" Moross was an early-twentieth-century press agent and promoter specializing in American motorsports. He was a longtime associate of the first American auto racing superstar, Barney Oldfield. Moross also obtained distinction as the first Contest Director for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He left the Speedway in 1910 to campaign the Fiat racing team.
Tom Cooper was an American cyclist and early automobile racing driver. He is best known for his rivalry with cyclist Major Taylor, as well as his later work with Henry Ford and Barney Oldfield.
The 1905 AAA National Motor Car Championship consisted of 11 points-paying races, beginning in The Bronx, New York on June 10 and concluding in Poughkeepsie, New York on September 29. There were also at least two non-championship events held during the year. This was the first year that the AAA Contest Board officially recognized a National Champion in American Championship Car competition.
Robert Kent, was an American film actor. His career included starring roles in several film serials of the 1940s, including The Phantom Creeps, Who's Guilty?, and The Phantom Rider. He also had a role in the 1938 film The Gladiator and was Virginia Vale's leading man in Blonde Comet, a 1941 movie about a female racing driver.
The First Auto is a 1927 American synchronized sound drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth about the transition from horses to cars and the rift it causes in one family. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects, some spoken words, cheering, and laughter, using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. The film stars Charles Emmett Mack and Patsy Ruth Miller, with Barney Oldfield having a guest role in the movie. As of January 1, 2023, the film is in the public domain.
Virginia Vale was an American film actress. She starred in a number of B-movie westerns but took a variety of other roles as well, notably in Blonde Comet (1941), in which she played a race car driver.
The 1957 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 19, 1957, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
Three Sons is a 1939 American drama film directed by Jack Hively using a screenplay by John Twist, based on the novel, Sweepings by Lester Cohen. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, and released on October 13, 1939, it is a remake of an earlier RKO film, Sweepings (1933). The film stars Edward Ellis, William Gargan, J. Edward Bromberg and Robert Stanton. Gargan, who plays the uncle in this film, had played one of the sons in the earlier film.
Racing Hearts is a 1923 American silent comedy drama film directed by Paul Powell and written by Byron Morgan and Will M. Ritchey. The film stars Agnes Ayres, Richard Dix, Theodore Roberts, Robert Cain, Warren Rogers, J. Farrell MacDonald, and Ed Brady. The film was released on July 15, 1923, by Paramount Pictures.
Claire Carleton was an American actress whose career spanned four decades from the 1930s through the 1960s. She appeared in over 100 films, the majority of them features, and on numerous television shows, including several recurring roles. In addition to her screen acting, she had a successful stage career.
The Speed Demon is a 1925 American silent sports action film directed by Robert N. Bradbury and starring Kenneth MacDonald, Peggy Montgomery and Clark Comstock.
Blake Barney is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, driving the No. 14 for Richard Barney. He is the grandson of Dick Barney, a legendary car owner who is well known for his red #14, piloted by drivers such as Tony Siscone, John Blewett III, Reggie Ruggiero, and Jimmy Blewett.
